Computer Science at The University of Alabama

Award-winning research in action 👏

A huge congratulations to one of our CS graduate students, Minhazul Arefin, for receiving First Place in the Graduate Student Technical Paper Competition at the 2026 World Environmental & Water Resources Congress!

Their paper, “ezTwin: A Scalable Framework for Rapid Building Digital Twin for Hydro Informatics,” explores how scalable digital twin technologies can support smarter, more accessible solutions for water systems and hydroinformatics.

Special thanks were shared with advisor Dr. Hongsheng He, collaborators, and CIROH for their support throughout the project.

We’re proud to see our students making meaningful contributions at the intersection of computing and environmental research!

We know Summer just started, but we would be lying if we said we weren't already excited for Fall!!🖥️

AI is coming to UA in more ways than one...
- New Master's Degree
- New Bachelor's Degree
- New Minor

AI is changing the world - and we want UA students ready to lead it.

Want to know what the tech industry actually looks like right now?

Not disappearing jobs.
Not a dead field.
Not “AI replacing everyone.”

What’s actually happening:
💡 Companies are investing in AI and digital transformation
💡 Tech job postings are at a 3-year high
💡 Hundreds of thousands of tech positions remain open

The field is changing, but companies are still hiring - especially students and professionals with strong technical and problem-solving skills. There is still a large need for computer scientists and that won't be changing anytime soon.

Want to read more about it? Check out the article: https://www.ciodive.com/news/tech-job-postings-hit-3-year-high-april/819778/

Want to know what it looks like to be a Computer Science student at the University of Alabama? 💻🐘

It looks like students who are pushing boundaries, leading with purpose, and building incredible futures.

During Honors Week, two of our CS students were recognized by the Honors College for their outstanding achievements:

♦️Aparna Bhooshanan: Ethical & Empathic Citizen Award
As Aparna enters her senior year, she continues to make an impact through interdisciplinary research and leadership as part of both the Randall Research Scholars Program and the Dr. Robert E. Witt University Fellows Program.

♦️Holland Henderson-Boyer: Critical & Creative Thinker Award
After graduating this spring, Holland is headed to Netflix to begin her career as a Software Engineer.

From research and leadership to launching careers at top tech companies, our students continue to show what’s possible when you are apart of the Bama CS experience.

To our future students: this is the kind of community waiting for you here!!

The day you’ve all been waiting for, graduation day!! 🎓

Today we celebrate more than just degrees - we celebrate growth, resilience, and a passion for problem solving. Our Computer Science graduates have worked extremely hard to reach this milestone and we couldn’t be more proud.

Congratulations to all the students crossing the stage today, and as always.. Roll Tide!!

We’re proud to see our Computer Science faculty contributing to global conversations in cutting-edge research!!👏

We are pleased to share that Dr. Amiri will serve as Chair of a Special Session at the IEEE ICMLA 2026, leading “Neurocognitive-Inspired Machine Learning for Adaptive, Robust, and Secure Intelligence.”

In this role, he will lead the development of a focused research track- soliciting high-quality submissions, overseeing the peer-review process, and collaborating with conference organizers to shape the session’s direction. The session highlights the growing intersection of computer science with neuroscience, robotics, and cognitive science, advancing research in robust, secure, and trustworthy AI systems.

This recognition highlights Dr. Amiri’s impact in computer science, particularly in shaping the future of secure, trustworthy, and adaptive machine learning.

Congratulations Dr. Amiri!

Last week, we were proud to host the 2026 Trusted CI Regional Cybersecurity Summit at The University of Alabama’s Bryant Conference Center, led by Dr. Puri Bangalore and Dr. Shahram Rahimi.

Over two days, the summit brought together leaders from across the country for conversations on cybersecurity, research security, NSF-funded projects, and open science. As the National Science Foundation’s Cybersecurity Center of Excellence, Trusted CI continues to play a vital role in advancing secure and trustworthy research environments.

We’re grateful for the opportunity to partner with Trusted CI and to welcome experts from institutions nationwide to campus for meaningful collaboration and professional development.

Looking forward to continuing these important conversations around securing the future of research.

Dr. Jeff Carver’s paper, “Software Development Environments for Scientific and Engineering Software: A Series of Case Studies,” originally presented at the 2007 International Conference on Software Engineering (ICSE), has been recognized with a retrospective ICSE SEIP Most Influential Paper Award.

This distinction highlights the significant and lasting impact the work has had on the software engineering community over time. By examining real-world case studies in scientific and engineering software development, the paper has helped shape how researchers and practitioners approach complex development environments- continuing to inform the field nearly two decades later.

Congratulations to Dr. Carver on this well-deserved recognition of enduring scholarly impact.

Last weekend, we hosted the ReliaQuest Labs here on campus, bringing students together for hands-on learning in cyber security and real-world insights. We had a full room with great questions and lots of learning

Thank you to everyone who participated and made the experience so engaging, and a special thank you to ReliaQuest for sharing their time, expertise, support, and making the whole thing possible!

We are proud to recognize Dr. Sayanton Dibbo for receiving both a Google Cloud Research Program Award and an NVIDIA Academic Grant in support of his work in Trustworthy AI.

His research focuses on detecting and mitigating cyber threats to AI systems- an increasingly critical area in today’s technology landscape. These awards highlight the impact of his work and support continued collaboration between academia and industry.

Please join us in congratulating Dr. Dibbo on this outstanding achievement. We look forward to seeing the breakthroughs these awards will help make possible. Roll Tide!!